CURRENT AFFAIRS – OCTOBER 23/2015
1. Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe awarded ‘China’s Nobel peace prize’
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has been awarded the Confucius Award and praised his leadership in ‘overcoming hardship.’ The 91-year-old picked up the prize after beating off competition from other candidates, including Microsoft founder and renowned philanthropist Bill Gates and South Korea’s president Park Geun-hye. Mugabe has presided over the country for 35 years despite lengthy periods of economic and political turmoil. The Confucius prize latest winner follows in the footsteps of previous winners Vladimir Putin and Fidel Castro.
2. RBI allows banks to fix interest rates on gold deposit scheme
Reserve Bank of India has issued guidelines for the Gold Monetisation Scheme that allow banks to fix their own interest rates on gold deposits. The RBI notification in this regard comes ahead of the formal launch of the scheme by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Novermber 5.
The gold deposit scheme is aimed at mobilising a part of an estimated 20,000 tonnes of idle precious metal with households and institutions. As per the guidelines, banks will be free to set interest rate on such deposit, and principal and interest of the deposit will be denominated in gold. The interest will be credited in the deposit accounts on the respective due dates and will be withdrawable periodically or at maturity as per the terms of the deposit.
3. Union Government clears first batch of flagship urban projects under AMRUT
The Ministry of Urban Development has approved the first batch of state level action plans under AMRUT aimed at enabling water supply as per the norm and providing water supply and sewerage connections to all urban households. An inter-ministerial apex committee of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) chaired by Madhusudhan Prasad, Secretary (Urban Development) has cleared plans over Rs 2000 crore in this regard for 89 cities in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
4. Alok Rawat becomes first male member of National Commission for Women
Former Cabinet Secretary Alok Rawat has been appointed as the first male member of the National Commission for Women, filling the fourth seat in the five-member body. A 1977 batch Sikkim cadre IAS officer, Mr Rawat has served as Director/Joint Secretary in Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways; Secretary (UPSC); Secretary (Coordination and Public Grievances) in the Cabinet Secretariat and Secretary in Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
5. Payments banks to expand reach of banking in rural areas: World Bank
The World Bank has said India’s move to set up 11 new payments banks is expected to expand penetration of the banking sector in vast rural areas of the country. It has noted that the decision by the Reserve Bank of India to grant ‘in principle’ approval for 11 entities to set up payments banks, which would be directed at small savers in underserved (largely rural) markets, could help transform the rural remittances market. According to the World Bank, the entry of new players is likely to increase competition, lower remittance costs and extend the formal market for remittances.
6. Banking correspondents under PMJDY exempted from service tax
The Government has exempted services provided by a business facilitator or a business correspondent to a banking company with respect to basic savings bank deposit accounts covered by Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) from payment of service tax. Further, services provided by any person as an intermediary to a business facilitator or a business correspondent for these services have also been exempted from service tax.
7. Indian-origin politician sworn in as Mayor of German city
Indian-origin politician Ashok Sridharan has been sworn in as the Mayor of Bonn, pledging to make the former German capital a major investment destination and the European hub of UN institutions. 49-year-old Sridharan, who is the son of a migrant from India and a German mother was sworn in during a ceremony in Bonn’s municipal council on Thursday in presence of the councillors and representatives of the public.
8. Vigilance Awareness Week is being observed from 26th-31st October
The Vigilance Awareness Week is being celebrated from 26th October to 31st October, 2015. The theme for the Vigilance Awareness this year is “Preventive Vigilance as a tool of Good Governance”. The Vigilance Awareness Week is being celebrated every year and coincides with the birthday of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, known to be a man of high integrity. The Commission has been laying stress on Preventive Vigilance and driving home the point that vigilance should not be seen in isolation but as a tool to achieve good governance and better operational results.
9. Vietnam wants friendly relations with both US and China
Vietnam’s defense minister says his country wants good and friendly relations with both the United States and China, and will not favor one over the other. Relations between Vietnam and China plunged to their lowest point in years following the parking of a Chinese oil rig in disputed waters in the South China Sea last year.
Vietnam and China both claim the Paracels islands, which are under Chinese occupation after ousting the U.S.-backed South Vietnamese Navy in 1974, one year before the end of the Vietnam War. The two countries, along with the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claim all or parts of the Spratly islands, which lie on a busy international sea lane and is rich in oil and gas and fish resources. Chinese construction of seven artificial islands atop reefs and atolls in the Spratlys over the past 18 months has raised serious concerns in the region and the United States.
10. Ombudsman to be appointed at BCCI’s AGM
The Cricket Board is all set to appoint an Ombudsman at its AGM which is scheduled to be held at its headquarters here on November 9. Appointment of the Ethics Officer or Ombudsman is one of the major changes proposed in the BCCI’s Memorandum of Rules and Regulations at its Annual General Meeting. The Ombudsman will be appointed by the BCCI’s general body “to deal with the complaints of Conflict of Interest and any act of indiscipline or misconduct or violation of any of the Rules and Regulations of the Board by an administrator,” as per the wordings of the clause that has been proposed.
11. Pakistan appoints ex-general Nasser Khan Janjua as new NSA
Retired lieutenant general Nasser Khan Janjua has been appointed as the new National Security Advisor (NSA) of Pakistan, signalling the powerful army’s increasing grip on security affairs of the country and its dealings with India. The government has notified the appointment of Janjua as the NSA, devesting the position from the mild-mannered Sartaj Aziz who will now concentrate on foreign affairs.
12. NASA completes key milestone for most powerful rocket
For the first time in almost 40 years, NASA has completed all steps needed to clear a critical design review (CDR) for the most powerful rocket ever built that will take humans to deeper space missions, including Mars. The agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) is the first vehicle designed to meet the challenges of the journey to Mars and the first exploration class rocket since the Saturn V. SLS will launch America into a new era of exploration to destinations beyond Earth’s orbit.
13. Ashwini Kumar, IOC honorary member, died
Ashwini Kumar, an Indian who served as a member of the International Olympic Committee for 27 years, has died. He was 94. Kumar’s death was announced by the IOC. No cause was given. Kumar joined the IOC in 1973 and served until 2000, when he became an honorary member. Kumar served as an IOC vice president from 1983-87 and was a member of the executive board from 1980-87 and 1992-96. A long-serving member of India’s police force, Kumar was president of the Indian Hockey Federation for 16 years and vice president of the International Hockey Federation for more than 15 years.
14. First World Indigenous Games began in Brazil
Some 2,000 athletes from many indigenous ethnic groups and 30 countries are taking part in the first World Indigenous Games. The event in the northern Brazilian city of Palmas officially gets under way on Friday and will end on 31 October. President Dilma Rousseff is expected to attend the lavish opening ceremony. Indigenous peoples from countries including Ethiopia, Mongolia and Brazil sang and danced at the ceremony, dressed in traditional outfits. From Brazil alone, 24 different indigenous groups are taking part.
15. China planned to form JV to develop overseas market for third-generation nuclear reactor Hualong 1
China’s top two nuclear power companies planned to combine their technologies in the country’s flagship third-generation reactor Hualong 1 to avoid competing for business abroad. Beijing is embarking on an ambitious plan to export its locally developed technology as well as its equipment manufacturing capacity potentially worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
To avoid rivalry, a planned joint venture between China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) and China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) is likely to be formed by end of the year.
16. New species of Giant Tortoise named Chelonoidis donfaustoi identified in Galapagos Islands
Scientists say they have identified a new species of giant tortoise on the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific. They used genetic data to determine that a group of 250 slow-moving reptiles was distinct from another tortoise species on Santa Cruz island. It is the 15th known tortoise species to be discovered on the archipelago, though four are now extinct. The new species has been named “Chelonoidis donfaustoi”, after a retired Galapagos park ranger. Giant tortoises in the Galapagos tend to weigh up to 250kg and live longer than 100 years.
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